Batting

ORANGE, Calif. – The Castleton baseball team struck first and held an early lead, but it did not last as Chapman used a consistent offensive approach to defeat the Spartans, 10-2, Wednesday night at Hart Park.

Castleton (2-3) jumped out to an early lead in the top of the first for the second straight game. Braman worked a walk and quickly stole second to get the Spartans going. Lindau fought off multiple pitches to extend the at-bat before roping a line drive single into left center to score Braman.

The Spartans were poised for a big inning in the second after Mitchell Caron led off with a long double that caromed off the wall in right center field. Steven Walsh drew a walk and Pat Mumford reached on an error to load the bases with one out, but Castleton could not extend its lead.

Chapman (4-2) gained momentum from there and went on to score 10 unanswered runs over the next five innings. Jarod Penniman tied the contest at 1-1 in the second after drawing a walk and coming around to score on a wild pitch. Henry Zeisler lined an RBI double and later scored on an RBI groundout by Gavin Blodgett to give Chapman a 3-1 lead. Penniman scored on a wild pitch in the fifth before a two-run home run by Joe Jimenez stretched the home team's lead to 6-1. Conner Larkin issued the final blow in the sixth with a grand slam to extend the Panthers' advantage to 10-1 in the sixth.

Lindau drove home Poland on an RBI groundout in the ninth, but that was as close as Castleton could get as Chapman secured the 10-2 victory.

Zac Harrington struck out five over 5.0 innings but surrendered the loss on the mound with six runs (two earned) as the Spartans committed three costly errors. Garrett Moran was strong in relief with four strikeouts in 2.0 scoreless innings.

Justin Stream led Chapman offensively with three hits, a walk, and a run scored. Joey Harmon earned the win for the Panthers with seven strikeouts and one earned run over 4.0 innings.

The Spartans will conclude their west coast trip on Wednesday when they face Whittier at 5:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. Pacific)